Page 36 of Fighting Furry

I took a moment to mourn the plethora of restaurants and good food I'd left behind in LA, not to mention the loss of sugar from my life. I walked back over to the serving line and fixed us each a chocolate ice cream cone. I was feeling rebellious and angry about the change in my situation and my loss of control. It was stupid to choose a sugary treat, I knew it was stupid, but I needed to do something that was my own choice and I could use a moment or two of escape from myself. It was a childish act of rebellion, I was fully aware, but it was all mine.

Licking the drops of ice cream as they melted down the cones, I walked back to our table and didn't see the woman sitting next to Axel until I'd taken my seat. She had fire engine red hair and eyes such a brilliant green they shone from several feet away. She was leaning in close to Axel, her chin in her hand, and batting her eyelashes like a cartoon mermaid.

I swallowed hard against the sudden knot in my throat. The ice cream was clearly affecting me already. I straightened my shoulders and smiled. Axel looked over at me and the crazed panic in his gaze did a little bit to calm me. He didn't look too happy about the woman sitting next to him.

“Is that my ice cream, sweetheart?” he asked, reaching across the table like a drowning man reaching for a life preserver.

“Nope.” I took a big bite from the top of each ice cream in turn, compounding my stupid. But I hated how much I hated seeing that woman next to him, how much I wanted to rip her hair out. “You should have told me you wanted one.” I looked over at the red-head who was staring at me and frowning. “This wolfy metabolism is the best. I can eat whatever I want and not gain a pound.”

I expected her to make some scathing comment so I could insult her back, but she smiled, her eyes brightening. “Isn't it? I've been a wolf all my life, so I've never known any different, but I've seen all those programs on the tee-vee about weight loss and diet pills and I just cannot imagine.”

“Can't live without sugar, can you?”

Axel's eyes widened as I took a big bite of cone and ice cream. “Maybe you should slow down,” he said.

Now that just made me want to go faster.

“Well, I can,” the redhead said. “I've been clean and sober for two years now.” She lowered her eyes demurely. “I had a bit of a problem. But French fries are my vice now, and I just can't imagine giving them up.”

“You really should consider it,” Axel said. “Even though you can't gain weight, your heart can only take so—”

The woman slapped his shoulder. “Aw, Axel, you are so cute to worry about me, but I don't over-do it. I promise.”

Axel did not look amused. “Ella Mae,” he said. “I don't believe you've been properly introduced. This is my girlfriend, Julie Jacobs.”

Ella Mae, maker of the most wonderful lasagna in the entire world, froze. Her pretty mouth pursed and tears formed in her eyes. “Your girlfriend?”

Axel looked over at me, begging me with his eyes to lie for him. Dammit. The only humane thing to do was to carry out the facade. “I am,” I said, forcing a cheery tone. Which wasn’t too hard, because the sugar was starting to kick in and everything was looking rosy as fuck. “I am Axel's girlfriend.”

Ella Mae stuck out her chin and squared her shoulders. “I'm happy for you, Axel,” she said with only the faintest wobble in her voice. “I've always told you to find a woman who can make you smile. I'm glad to see you've found her.”

I looked over at Axel and he was smiling. He was smiling at me with this weird, sort of fond, sort of grateful, look in his eyes. I shook my head. “I'm sorry,” I said. “This sugar is hitting me all wrong.” I got up from the table, threw the cones in the trash, and walked out of the building.

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